Asphalt Junkies CLOSED AND GETTING OUR FIX (Page 68)

That's fabulous Matt!  You put in a lot of hard work since last season and you deserve the improvements.  23 minutes improvement is something fantastic to brag about regardless of field placement.  Many people may not have stuck with the program given similar results last year but you held onto your goals and crushed it in a great race.  I would love to have been there to see it!

Congratulations!

Tracy, your swim coach is an ANIMAL!  She is ripped!  That was a very nice piece on her and now I'll have to keep an eye out for her on the pro circuit.  I am jealous of the instruction you'll be getting.  Someday maybe a coach will be in my budget but not until I don't have any kids in school.

GREAT job Matt!  Can't wait to see all the race reports from folks racing this past weekend.

Dina, enjoy the Disney experience.  Have U acclamated to the heat?  lol

FOAM ROLLERS!!!!!!!!   I got one for Father's day.  Let me tell U, it HURTS!!!  but w/ the IT band issues I had Fri, I found all he "hot" spots...  If U do not have one, get one, it will help in ur recovery..or nthat is what the insructions say anyway.  Tghe side of my legs from but to knee were a mess along w/ my calves...just sayun....

Those of ya'll that have one, what do U think of them???

Matt congrats on the great finish this weekend. All the hard work has certainly paid off for you as that is a pretty big improvement.

Tracy x2 on what Dirk said about your coach as I saw that video as well and can't not be impressed by her. You are fortunate to have someone like that coaching you.

Dina hope you have been enjoying the vacation have a safe trip home.

Matt, that is great to hear.  I would say that you deserve the most improved award for 2012.  Every race you get faster and faster!  I hope it continues until you race in the Northeast!

Dirk...YOU are absolutely fabulous.

I have to put my race report together...hopefully after work today as it's shaping up to be a busy day...more so that I wished actually.  I managed to pull off 2nd in my AG in my race on Saturday.  Fastest swim/fastest bike....and something like 7th on the run.  It's coming along all right, but being patient is hard when you don't have the time to run every day! 

Matt, that's absolutely sick improvement.  All the work is really paying dividends.  Great race.

Jonathan, just incredible.  I wish I could have done this one again this year and had a chance to see you on the podium.  Even at second, you probably towered over the winner!  We expect an incredible swim and bike from you, but that run time is outstanding for that course.  You are ready to make the leap into super-stardom.

Hey Junkies,

Sounds like some great races and training for many this past weekend. Keep up the good work everyone!

For me the knee pain was back after a 5.5 mile run last week so I took a few more days off. After a couple of challenging weeks and a shift in the weather (it was 104 Saturday and Sunday here) I've decided to hit the "reset" button on my training. I added some leg strength training back in and started running before work. Short easy runs are on the daily schedule again for me for a while. I've also decided to drop the Olympic I was trying for in early July and race another Sprint instead.  I'm looking at the Sprint again in early August but if training goes well I'll give the Olympic a shot then.

I've volunteered as a group leader again this year for Vacation Bible School from 5-8 in the evenings this week so my training will all need to be early mornings or after 9 pm, but since the temps will be in the 90's and 100's this week I wouldn't want to train right after work anyway.

That sounds like a great plan Jonny.  Easy and frequent runs were a godsend for me this winter after two years of injuries.  I love the idea of sticking with a sprint for now if that takes pressure off your training schedule as well.  Have fun at VBS this week, and good luck finding some more moderate temps to train.

For contrast to your heat training, I had all my warm weather bike gear on this morning as it was 48 when I left the house.

haha...super-stardom eh?  Thanks buddy.  Much appreciated. 

here's my report

Jonathan congrats on an awesome race. That is great placing 2nd in your AG and having the fastest swim and bike time is no small feat. I am sure you have to be most happy about the improvement for the run having the 7th fastest time. You guys are all setting the bar very high for the rest of us.

Vero, have you considered giving that knee a little extra support or have you just been running with it naked?

Thanks Tony.  I am definitely glad to see improvement for sure.  Remember..those placings are in my age group.  I was well off the overall 1st place for swim/bike. :-)

http://www.beginnertriathlete.com/discussion/training/races-edit.asp?raceid=225533

I raced on Saturday and did well.  I'm feeling better the last few days. 

I had lost a lot of my mojo at my last race and just got it back.

I will check in again later, right now work is calling.

Managed to get to the pool this morning.  I tried to swim one of my workouts but I was completely out of breath.  I abandoned the workout and just swam.  I'm getting better.  I really don't like catching colds.  They make me grumpy. 

Jeff congrats on the great finish, 5th overall and 2nd overall in your AG is pretty awesome. Like I said you guys are setting the bar very high for everybody else with results like that. 

Wow, just wow...that's an awesome run split dude!  But more than that, I am glad to hear you are feeling better the last few days. 

JoAnne congrats on your race this past weekend. You had a very big improvement over last year's time which was very impressive. Good luck this week with your IM training, sounds like you have been working very hard. It will pay off for you.

I've been trying to rearrange all of my workouts this week since we are going to be out of town over the weekend.  I didn't want to miss out on two weekends in a row of long training sessions.  Today, I arranged to do my long bike ride (3 ish hours).  I'm still not feeling all that great.  Should I just do a shorter (1 ish hour) ride and say "oh well" on missing two long rides in a row?

For reference, I'm going to be doing a metric century the first weekend in October but I will have reduced training around my races in mid July and beginning of August.  Other than that, only silly summer colds will prevent me from getting the longer rides done.

Thanks Junkies!

BTW.....awesome racing to all of you!  You kicked some serious Assphalt!!!! 

I'd say go out and try the ride.  Sometimes we don't feel great but the workout unfolds in a way which surprises us.  If you still aren't feeling it after 30-45 minutes, turn around and go back and call it a day.  October is a long time to build up, a missed weekend here isn't going to ruin that race.

I want to make my semi regular post on the human side of triathlon.  It's gonna be a touchy-feely, long one, so feel free to move on to the next post.  And if you’re trying to win your AG or KQ or go the Olympics, this may not be mostly applicable to you but some of the points still might be.

Please don’t ever get into the habit of saying things like “only” a sprint, or “I know this isn’t up to some standard”, or apologizing for coming in 56/59 in your AG, or even DFL.  This sport is a hobby, albeit an addictive and important one to each of us.  So many things affect each or our ability to perform in these events. 

We all come from various backgrounds with different amounts of accumulated endurance training through our lives.  We all have different genetics and natural capabilities.  We all have different amounts of available time based on our life station as well as our desire to spend time training.  Each of our bodies recovers differently from the stresses of training.  All of this is to say that none of us really can, and certainly shouldn’t, compare ourselves to others either in this group or in other groups.  The only person you can really compare yourself to is yourself and what you are/were capable of on that particular day.  If you raced and you executed the plan and squeezed out every bit you had, that’s a HUGE victory and a HUGE triumph worthy of celebration, regardless of your time and placement in comparison to anyone else.  I guarantee we’ll all enjoy every one of these results along with the AG wins.

I’m not one of those “kumbaya”  types who believe everyone gets a medal at ever sporting event, and I love competition as much as the anyone.  As a confession - I have spent probably way too much time and money learning way too much about how to swim, bike, and run, and I love training and trying to be the best I can be in triathlon.  I admit I love pushing my body and training to the best of my ability, whatever results that produces.  I enjoy being a triathlete and it is becoming not something I do but who I am.  But we can take it too far in this sport which is supposed to be FUN and hopefully a release form the “real” world above all else.

You all may know my youngest has Down syndrome, and as such we don’t expect the same things from him as our two older boys.  When I watch J struggle to learn to do things which come completely naturally for most of us (can most kids say the “th” sound, or drink from a glass at 10 years old?) I’m reminded that our family celebrates accomplishments very differently for him than for our others.  I have learned so much about myself and life through him that’s it’s almost embarrassing to call his condition a disability.  The effort he has to put into something as simple as pulling his pants up, reminds me that my efforts to someday go sub-1:45 in an HM is comical when I compare myself to someone who runs sub 1:20.  But so what.  It’s my target and my goal, and I’ll celebrate as much when I get there as the guy who goes sub 1:15, just like we celebrate when J learns to play a simple game of Candyland with a friend.

So for you out there running an 11:00 pace on an 10k, or finishing at the back of the pack in a tri, or “just” doing sprints, keep pushing yourself to YOUR limits, keep asking questions, keep training as hard as you are able.  And by all means keep enjoying, appreciating and being amazed by the performances of Jeff and Dirk, and the improvements of Matt, and whatever else inspires you in this group.  But don’t for one second feel in any way less of a triathlete, or any less of an inspiration to all of us if you’re not on the podium.  We are all part of this crazy community and we all understand.  At least for me, I am at least equally inspired by the person who keeps at it regardless of their outcomes as I am by seeing bryancd win an 70.3.

Now get back out there and train hard.

Perfectly said Warren!

Lovely post, Warren.  You are so right!

I get annoyed when people say "just a Sprint."  Sprints are HARD!!!!  They are every bit as difficult to do well as longer races.  Olympic distances are HARD!!!!  It takes a lot of moxie to be able to move your body for 3 hours!

Triathlon is about being disciplined in achieving a personal goal.  It's the same as any other hobby.  Others looking from the outside into your little world may wonder "why" just the same as you may look at someone else's hobby as strange.  We all get satisfaction out of our "strange" hobbies.

Do our strange hobbies make us better partners, mothers, fathers and people?  That's the question that needs to answered.